Time and Chance

This morning a phrase I recognized as Biblical kept coming to my mind. I looked it up and found it to be the latter part of Ecclesiastes 9:11 – “time and chance happeneth to them all.”

This seems to be a strange phrase for a Bible verse. Does the Bible really say that? Bad luck happens to us all? Old age and pure dumb luck happen to the best of us. Sounds kind of pessimistic, doesn’t it?

Actually the entire book of Ecclesiastes seems to be written by the pen of someone who is down on his luck and bummed out about life. The writer laments about life being too short, life having the same boring routine, and a number of other things that come from the pen of a seemingly depressed person. So why is this in the Bible anyway? Some people think the Bible is supposed to be all feel good stories and inspirational quotes.

Truthfully, the Bible is more about reality than inspiration. The writers of the scripture, especially the poets of the Old Testament, painted an accurate picture of what life on this earth is like. They did not try to sugarcoat the truth or make men and women look holier than they were. We read about the ups and the down, the failures and the shortcomings, right along with the victories. We see heroes of the faith at their best and at their worst. We understand through their writings that life can get complicated and messy.

The writer of Ecclesiastes lays out to us the woes of a human being in mental and emotional turmoil. Far from being a sad treatise, however, the book should give us hope. We should understand that none of us is alone when we are feeling down. As the writer so aptly puts it, time and chance happens to us all. We all have good days and bad days. We all have fortune and misfortune; none of us is exempt.

The recent death of a loved one has left me thinking about how short life is. Another Old Testament poet, the author of the book of Job, tells us that a man’s days are few and full of trouble (Job 14:1, paraphrased). No matter how handsome or beautiful a young person may be, they will one day have wrinkles and aching bones. The youth often like to pick on those who are older about being old. The one thing that is sure is that all of us will get old if we live long enough. Old age (time) happens to us all.

The circumstances of life also happen to us all. The writer calls it chance while many of us would call it bad luck. Whatever we call it, life happens. We get flat tires, we loose our jobs, a loved one gets sick, you name it. Life happens to us all.

As I thought about this verse this morning, rather than being frustrated, I was comforted. I have been having a hard time with the fact that my relative was taken from us so young. Though none of us is perfect, she was a special person. She always had a kind word, a smile, and a listening ear for everyone around her. She was good and gentle to the bottom of her soul. She loved children and was especially patient with those who were struggling. It seems like with her death, a light has gone out in the world. Though I would not wish her back, I wonder that the day is not physically darker without her here to help the sun brighten it.

Some might ask why God allowed the sickness that took her from us. Some might be angry. I have found myself repeating the phrase that life isn’t fair. Yet in all this I cannot blame God. As his word says, time and chance happens to us all. We live in a fallen world where people get old and die. It wasn’t meant to be that way in the beginning but sin has taken its toll on all of us for thousands of years.

I could be tempted to ask God why he didn’t heal my loved on. I could wonder if our faith wasn’t strong enough or a thousand other things. Yet I know this is not true. She had a pure, childlike faith and believed God for her healing until the end. No, faith has little to do with it. I can only speculate about why God has healed others and didn’t heal her. One thing I do know, it was through no fault of her own or anyone else. It was the cruel taskmaster of time and chance that happens to us all.

You might wonder how this idea has given me peace. How can I be content in knowing that all of us will die? How can I be secure in knowing that I am not exempt from the struggles of life? The reason is because my hope is not anchored in this world. I have peace and joy to know that God is with me no matter what time or chance may send my way. The joy that Christ brings is able to endure any affliction I may encounter in this life. And ultimately I know that I will be reunited with my loved ones who have gone before.

When we hear of tragedy striking, it is easy to tell ourselves that it will never happen to us. I am not naïve enough to think this. I am no more worthy of God’s love than any of my fellow humans that inhabit this planet with me. Though I do not live in fear, I realize that time and luck happen to all of us and I must be prepared. How? By making sure that my relationship with Jesus is intact daily. When all is well with my soul I can handle anything that time or chance sends because Jesus is always with me.

Some Christians feel like their lives should be forever perfect after they are saved. This is an unrealistic expectation. Nothing is perfect in this life. The more we understand this, the happier we will be. We will learn to treasure the good times and rejoice in hope during the hard times. We would all be truly blessed to understand that, though time and chance happen to us all, God is ever gracious and knows how to sustain us.

Sincerely,

Spanish Pastor Jones